


A split second of silence

by ShionsTear



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: (Disaster) Manager!Yuki (IDOLiSH7), Actor!Minami, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dance, Café Owner!Nagi, Composer!Sougo, Dancer!Gaku, Dancer!Mitsuki, Dancer!Momo (IDOLiSH7), Dancer!Ryuunosuke, Dancer!Tamaki, Dancer!Torao, Domestic Fluff, Drama, Drama & Romance, Fluff, Humor, Idol!Riku, Idol!Tenn, M/M, Manager!Iori, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pediatrician!Yamato, President!Banri, Romance, Slice of Life, Waiter!Haruka, Waiter!Touma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2019-11-14 10:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18050927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShionsTear/pseuds/ShionsTear
Summary: The aspiring dance group NebulaZ - consisting of Mitsuki, Ryuunosuke and Momo - is approaching their debut slowly but surely. Soon they'll be in the same world as the new and quickly in popularity growing dance groups Downtown AT4. But their way is no easy one and filled obstacles that they need to overcome. The world of show business is far too cruel sometimes."That short moment after we finish our performance... that split second of silence is the reason why I dance."





	1. Dance N°1 – Why do you dance?

 

“And ding two three four, five six seven eight. And ding two three four, five six seven eight. And stop. Wonderful.”

“Y-yuki…” Mitsuki caught his breath after having danced through all of the choreography five times in a row. ‘It’ll probably help really remember all your steps. Maybe.’ Yuki had said. And that was the reason why he, Momo and Ryu were all out of breath and drinking from their water bottles. “Why exactly did you use a triangle for counting?”

“Why?” Yuki smiled, not having moved an inch from the chair he was sitting on. “I thought it might help you concentrate on the beat.”

“Uhh…” 

“Ding!” he said and beat the small metal bar he was holding in his right hand against the triangle in his left.

Momo was lying on his back on the wooden floor of their studio, a pink towel covering his face. Though to be precise, it wasn’t _their_ studio. They just had rented it for a day. Mitsuki, Momo and Ryu hadn’t debuted as a dance group yet and couldn’t afford an own studio to practise in and hold meetings and plan performances and such. They’d always meet up in a near family restaurant for anything other than actual dance practise.

“But at least now we can be sure that we can dance our routine perfectly, right?” Ryu smiled while leaning against the mirror that was attached to the entire width of one of the four walls. “We shouldn’t have any problems at tomorrow’s casting.”

“Ryu, don’t jinx it.” Momo muffled through his towel.

“Don’t worry.” Yuki stood up and dried the ‘sweat’ off his forehead with the green towel around his neck. At least Mitsuki couldn’t see any sweat that needed to be swiped off, but who was he to judge him; Yuki had always been like that, already back in high school.

“Exactly! We’ve come so far already, it’s finally time for us to make our debut!” Ryu sounded excited and infected the other two. Momo sat up on the floor and the towel fell onto his lap.

“Ryu-chan is right!” he laughed. “It’s time for NebulaZ to spread around the world!”

“Let’s take Japan first.” Mitsuki chuckled and grabbed his orange towel. “We gotta keep that promise we made, right?” he stretched out the hand with the towel. Yuki nodded, approached him and did the same. Momo jumped up from the floor and stretched out his hand as well. Lastly, Ryu stepped closer from the wall and joined his team mates and friends; a dark blue towel in his hand. “Let’s do our best tomorrow.”

Their four fists touched each other and the four differently coloured towels were hanging down from them.

“We’ll become the Number One!!”

_“Why I dance?”_

_He had asked me with a serious expression. The sun was already setting and a cold gust of wind blew quickly past us._

_“That’s simple. I…_

“Hnngh…?” Mitsuki slowly opened his eyes when he heard an obnoxious sound that wouldn’t stop. After a moment of drowsiness he finally realized that it was his alarm ringing incessantly if he didn’t turn it off. He grabbed his noisy phone, accidentally touched the screen and activated its snooze mode. Seemingly satisfied due to the now silent phone, he moved the hand in which he was still holding the phone closer to him and rested his head on it. He’d regret that unconscious decision five minutes later.

After he was woken up by the ringing right next to his ear, he crawled out of bed and into the bathroom. He had a small one that was part of his room. All three bedrooms of the apartment he was living in had a bathroom of their own. When Mitsuki was looking for a room to rent after he had finished university, he didn’t expect to find such a luxurious home. He was sceptical when he found out about the cheap price, but after he had met with the landlord – who was one of the three people living there – he decided to stay there after all.

Yamato, the owner, had told him that he had too much money anyways and just wanted someone that could cook two warm meals a day for him. And since Mitsuki had just finished studying cuisine, that wouldn’t be a problem at all. Yamato was working as a paediatrician and seemed to come from a quite good house, so he wasn’t really in financial need.

“Morning Musashi.” Mitsuki greeted the round beeping vacuum robot as he exited his room. He left the door open so the small Roomba – ‘my pride and joy’, as Yamato called Musashi – could enter and clean. He wasn’t the best cleaning robot, due to his round shape he couldn’t go into the corners well. But he didn’t want to hurt Yamato’s feelings, so he didn’t tell him about it.

“ _OH, good morning_ , Mitsuki.”

“Morning, Nagi.” Mitsuki smiled. Nagi was the third resident of the apartment. He moved in shortly after Mitsuki and all three of them became friends quickly. It felt like they had known each other for a long time already, Mitsuki thought from time to time.

Nagi was sitting on the couch and scrolling through the website of the newspaper, like he did every morning before heading to work. He owned a popular manga and anime café downtown and worked there as the chef waiter. It wasn’t all that big but he still employed four people; two more waiters besides himself and two people to work in the kitchen. They served a variety of small pastries and sweets and Magical Kokoa, as the café was called, was always bustling with visitors. In the café he also showcased his most valuable collection of Magical Kokona goods. It’s said to be the biggest and most complete collection of that kind.

“Do you need breakfast today?” Mitsuki asked as he stepped into their open kitchen and put on his apron. He turned on the water kettle, yawned and stretched one more time.

“ _Thanks_ , but not today.” the blonde ball of sunshine beamed at him. Mitsuki wasn’t sure why Nagi seemed so sparkling to him. It was either due to him still being half asleep, the actual sun shining through their big panorama windows or the fact that he was secretly crushing on Nagi. In any case, Mitsuki quickly shook his head and focused on the now boiling water.

“Alright, then just for the old man and me.” he said to himself and poured in two coffees.

“Who’re you calling old man? Onii-san can totally keep up with the youth you know.”

“Yamato that is exactly the reason why you’re an old man.”

“Mitsu is being mean to me already.” he answered and stepped closer to the counter on which the two cups of coffee were steaming. “Which one’s mine?”

“Huh?”

“I’m not wearing my glasses, help me.”

“Go put on your glasses then.”

“Geez, fine then.” Yamato yawned and made a U-turn back to his room.

“I can’t believe him…” Mitsuki sighed and continued preparing breakfast.

“I think it’s time for me to head out now.” Nagi said while putting his tablet on the couch table and standing up. He walked to the fridge and took a small bottle of water out of it and put it in his bag. “I wish I could eat your meals _everyday_ …”

“What are you talking about, you always eat what I make for dinner.” Mitsuki laughed.

“ _Oh_ , but I want to eat _everything_ Mitsuki makes.” Nagi looked at his short friend with honest eyes. How can he just say something like that, Mitsuki thought and felt his cheek turn slightly red. He hoped his tall friend wouldn’t notice anything, but Nagi only smiled and walked towards the entrance door. He put on his boots – it was a chilly day in autumn – and grabbed his jacket from one of the hooks.

“Nagi!” Mitsuki suddenly exclaimed. Nagi turned around confused. “I-if you want… I can make you a bento. So you can take it with you to work. I-I mean, not right now, I guess that’s too late. But, if you want, from now on and---“

“ _Really!?_ ” Nagi swooshed back and grabbed Mitsuki’s hands with both of his. His eyes were sparkling and Mitsuki wanted to turn around as to not get blinded.

“Y-yes, if you want.”

“ _Thanks,_ Mitsuki!” he threw his arms around him, hugged him tightly and swooshed back to the entrance and left after waving with his arms.

“…b-bye-bye…” Mitsuki waved back awestruck after Nagi had been gone already.

“Woohh, someone’s making progress, huh?” Yamato whistled as he came back. “When’s the wedding?” he reached the counter and took his cup of coffee.

“Sh-shut up old man!” Mitsuki blushed and turned around to continue working.

“Oh come on Mitsu.” he took a sip. “Bitter.” he walked over to the other side of the counter and put some sugar into his coffee. “Why don’t you confess already? It’s really obvious that you’ve got a crush on him, you know?”

“Even if I had, so what?” Mitsuki answered without looking away from the chopping board. “It’s not like that’d change anything.”

“Hah…” Yamato sighed as he remembered a conversation he had with Nagi.

 

_“Yamato… I think I might like Mitsuki.”_

_I was expecting a lot when he asked if he could talk to me. Like, maybe he’d want to talk about the rent costs, or something else about the apartment. I thought maybe he even wanted to get a friend for Musashi, but this wasn’t the sort of thing I had in mind._

_“Ehh? Really?” I asked and drank from my beer._

_“_ Yes _, but I don’t know what to do with these feelings. I think I have never felt this strongly about anyone. Should I tell him?”_

_“Maybe instead of telling him directly you could try and make him understand in a more subtle way?”_

_“_ OH _, I understand. Thank you very much.”_

“…stupid past onii-san…”

“Did you say something?” Mitsuki finally turned around.

“No. Nothing.” he took another sip from his coffee and tried to come up with a way to make his two tenants/roommates/friends realize that they liked each other without having to actually do a lot for it to happen. He wasn’t _that_ committed to it. “Still bitter.”

 

～♪♫♪～

 

In a bedroom of another apartment the alarm clock woke up two men. They were lying on a bed, next to each other, one having his arms around the other. The taller of them, the one being closer to the ringing alarm clock, stretched out his arm and accidentally shoved the clock down from the bedside table. It continued ringing on the floor and was now even further out of reach than before.

“Momo, the clock fell down.” Yuki mumbled.

“Mhm.” Momo nodded.

“How much time did it take before it stops ringing?”

“We bought one that wouldn’t stop so we’d have to get up from bed, remember?”

“Whose stupid idea was that?”

“Yours.”

“Right, I remember.” Yuki stretched out his arms again and turned away from Momo. He decided to stand up and bowed down to grab the clock and turn it off. “Now back to be---“ he was about to crawl back into bed, but Momo threw a pillow at him and stood up as well.

“We have no time to sleep.” Momo yawned. “We gotta get ready for the audition.”

“But I’m not dancing.”

“You still have to be there, you’re our manager, aren’t you?”

“I thought you might forget about it for a day.”

“Ehhh!?”

They had been a couple since Momo confessed to Yuki in high school. It had been about one year after they and the other two met in their school’s dance club. Yuki didn’t seem to think much of going out with anyone during his school years, but he didn’t see any reason to decline either. And now over ten years later they were still together, not missing any chance to act like an old married couple.

“Anyways, I’ll go take a shower. Could you prepare breakfast, darling?” Momo asked as he picked up a towel from the chair. It wasn’t any chair, it was that one specific chair everyone had in their bedroom that was used for anything but sitting on it. They had two of those chairs, one for each.

“But I need to take a shower as well.”

“You can take it afterwards.”

“But if we take one together, then it’s quicker and we save water.” Yuki explained and Momo started thinking about it.

“…n-no Yuki I’m not falling for that. Not again.” he said and waved his arms around above his head, as if he needed to erase the traces of the imaginative cloud that had formed when he thought about what Yuki had proposed. Momo left their room and headed to the bathroom while Yuki sighed, gave in and headed to the kitchen.

 

“Do you know which train we have to take to go the audition place?” Momo asked as he put on his pink, sleeveless hoodie. He decided to wear their ‘official’ NebulaZ dance outfit already instead of changing on site. Said outfit consisted of a sleeveless hoodie – Ryu’s was dark blue, Mitsuki’s was orange – black baggy pants and black sneakers with accents in their respective colour and silver. Adding to that, Momo wore a pair of black arm warmers, Mitsuki wore black fingerless gloves and Ryu several black bracelets.

“I do, I looked it up before bed yesterday and wrote it down.” Yuki nodded satisfied with himself as he buttoned his dress shirt. He wanted to at _least_ look the part of a serious manager. “I also texted Ryu and Mitsuki. We’ll meet up on site.”

“Wow Yuki you’re so cool…” Momo marvelled.

“Fufu, I know.”

They got dressed and were ready to leave, but Yuki just had to quickly water all of his plants. After he was done they quickly left the apartment and headed to the nearest train station. Yuki texted the other two again, asking if they were already on their way. They both answered positively. Mitsuki was cycling there – he had stopped his bike to answer when he heard his phone received a message – and Ryu was driving because he was dropping off his little brothers at their schools. He apologised in advance if he would arrive a bit later.

When Yuki and Momo got to the building where the auditions were taking place, they found Mitsuki and Ryu already waiting in front of it.

“You’re late.” Mitsuki said with crossed arms. Both he and Ryu were already wearing their dance outfits as well.

“Sorry Mitsuki-chan, but it seemed like the train had some problems and departure was delayed a bit.” Momo explained.

“Good thing we decided to meet up with more than enough time before it was our time to perform.”

“You can never count on technology when you really need it.” Yuki added. “In any case, Ryu, you weren’t late.”

“Oh I got here 15 minutes ago.” Ryu said.

“Ryu-chan is very Japanese. He apologises in case he arrives late before he’s even nearly there yet is still the first one to appear.”

“True.” Yuki nodded.

“True.” Mitsuki agreed.

“G-guys?” Ryu looked at them a bit troubled.

“That’s just how you are and we love that part of you as well, Ryu.” Yuki smiled at him.

“Y-yuki…”

“Wow where did you pick that up?” Mitsuki raised an eyebrow.

“Did I sound like a good manager? I read it in a book I bought recently.”

“Of course you did…”

“Yuki ikemen!!” Momo yelled and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.

“Anyways!” Mitsuki exclaimed. “Let’s enter and register and stuff.”

“Let’s.” Yuki nodded.

“I’m getting a bit nervous suddenly.” Ryu laughed.

“Everything will be A-Okay!” Momo showed him a peace sign.

 

“Y-y-yuki, I’m nervous now t-too…” Momo’s voice trembled.

“Didn’t you say before that everything would be A-Okay?” Mitsuki asked.

“That was before we were standing in front of _the door_.” he put a heavy emphasis on that last part.

“ _The door_?”

“ _This_.” he pointed at the door in front of them.

“I know what a door is!!”

“Then why did you ask?” Yuki asked.

“That’s not what I meant!”

“You’re acting weird, Mitsuki.”

“You’re the last person I want to hear that from, Yuki.”

“G-guys, let’s stay calm and focus on our performance, okay?” Ryu tried to intervene, but all of a sudden, Momo started laughing. He was laughing so much that tears formed in his eyes and he infected Ryu and Mitsuki as well.

“’If your team is nervous or on edge, brighten the mood by making them laugh.’ is what the book said too.” Yuki explained with a smile on his face and made the others laugh out loud even more. “Seems like it worked.”

A person with a headset and a clipboard in their hands approached the four.

“NebulaZ, get on stand-by please.” they said.

“Alright guys…” Mitsuki calmed down again. “Let’s do this, win, and get our debut. Alright?” he stretched out his fist. The other three nodded and did the same. “Let’s spread our name around the world!”

“Like the nebulas in the universe!” Ryu continued.

“NebulaZ, GO!” Momo yelled.

“Yeah!!!”

“The stage is yours, please enter and good luck.” the staff said. The four nodded and walked through the door and towards their destiny.

 

～♪♫♪～

 

“Everyoooone, thank youuuu!!” a young man screamed through the raging noise of applause and people yelling and squealing.

“Thank you very much!” another young man, standing next to the first one said into his microphone.

The two figures were on a TV screen. They had just finished one of their live concerts that was being broadcasted on TV. They looked like two sides of a coin. Same outfit, same height, nearly same face and same, but mirrored, hair style; if not for one being red and the other white haired with a slight tint of pale pink.

“Eventide really is amazing.” Gaku said as he picked a strawberry from the cake in front of him.

“Gaku-san, I thought I told you not to pick just the strawberries from the cake!”

“You know I like them most, Iori.”

“That is no excuse to behave like a little child.” Iori put his hands on his hips. He was standing behind the couch. Gaku was sitting on an armchair to the left and turned around.

“What do you think?” he asked the two on the couch.

“Hmm, it’s not really my kinda music, but I gotta admit they’re not too bad.” Torao crossed his legs and leaned back into the cushion.

“Eventide was their name, right Iorin?” Tamaki looked upwards and met Iori’s glance.

“Precisely.” he pushed a button on the remote he was holding and turned off the TV. He put down the remote on a table and stepped in front of the others. “Eventide. Japan’s current number one idol duo consisting of Nanase Riku and Nanase Tenn. The one and only twin idols, as they say.”

“No shit Sherlock.” Torao added. “So we got an offer to perform with them, yeah?”

“Indeed. Ever since you three debuted as the dance group Downtown AT4 we have been receiving offers from various people of interest. Yet Eventide is the biggest offer to date. It would be very unwise to not respond positively to them, but I am only your manager. I cannot make decisions if you do not agree.” Iori explained.

“Let’s do it! If we get to dance then I don’t care about who it is we’re dancing for!” Tamaki said.

“You’re such a dance idiot.” Torao laughed.

“He, yeah…” Tamaki laughed as well.

“No, that…” he sighed. “Nevermind. Gaku?” Torao turned to him and caught him trying to pick another strawberry from the cake. “Leave ’em on the cake already!!”

Gaku leaned back reluctantly and crossed his arms.

“I agree, I don’t see any reason why we should decline. It’s a great opportunity for us. Plus, I’ve read in a magazine that the twins are the puppy and the angel of the showbiz world, so what could possibly go wrong?”

“There ya have it, manager.” Torao grinned. “We’re in.”

“Very well. I shall let their manager know then.” he took a small notebook from a pocket and noted something down. “Then this shall be the end of today’s meeting. You are free to spend the rest of the day as you please. Thank you for your work today, and until tomorrow.” Iori bowed down slightly to the three, packed all his things and left the room. They were holding a meeting in the break room of their small studio. They received it as a ‘humble’ gift from their agency.

“I’ll cut the cake.” Gaku stood up and walked to the small kitchen of the room. The break room looked like an almost complete one-room-apartment. It had a small kitchen, a dining table that could fit four people and a corner with TV, couch and armchair. He grabbed a big knife from one of the drawers and headed back to his seat. “Who wants cake?”

“Me me!” Tamaki held up his arms. “We’re out of pudding at the moment so cake will do.”

“Torao?”

“Nah thanks.”

“Alright.” he said and cut two slices. He handed one to Tamaki and took a bite from the other one. “Izumi bakery is as good as always.”

“Izumi?” Torao raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

“Like our manager?”

“Yes, his family runs a bakery. Didn’t you know that?”

“Why should I know that? He never told me.”

“You probably never asked.”

“Why would I?”

“I asked him one day when I passed by the bakery and saw its name.”

“Well then you’ve got a reason to ask him, but I never passed by that bakery.”

“You should, their stuff is good.” he took another bite of the cake. “You sure you don’t want some?” he held his slice towards Torao and moved his hand back and forth. “Hmm? Hmm?”

“Hah…”

“Oh, Sou-chan…” Tamaki exclaimed suddenly.

“Your man?” Torao turned away from Gaku’s farce and looked at the youngest member of their group.

“Mhm.” he nodded. “He texted me and asked when I’ll get home today…” he put down the cake and grabbed his phone with both of his hands. “In a meeting. Will come in 30min. Send.”

“The meeting is over though?”

“But the cake… It’s technically still part of the meeting. Like it’s been prolonged.”

“If you say so…”

“…still, don’t tell Sou-chan. He’ll get angry.”

“Well, you two enjoy the cake.” Torao stood up from the couch. “I’ll be going now.”

“Where’re you going?” Gaku asked.

“Meetin’ a friend.” he packed his things and hung his bag from the shoulder. “See ya.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Bye-bye.”

As soon as Torao left the studio, he grabbed a key from his pocket and pointed it to the red sports car that was parked right in front of it. The car flashed its headlights and the door to the driver’s seat opened automatically. He threw his bag onto the passenger seat to the left, got on the car, closed the door, fastened the seatbelt, put on his sunglasses – the sun was already setting but therefore shone directly through the windscreen – and started the engine.

 

After a short drive to the city’s downtown, he stopped the car in front of a café. He parked on a lot reading _private_ and left the car. Another push on the car’s key and the lights flashed once more. Torao walked towards the entrance of the café, stopped in front of it, took off his sunglasses and opened the door. The bell attached to the ceiling rang when the door pushed it aside.

“ _Welcome to Magica---OH!_ ”

“Yo.”

“ _Mister_ Torao, welcome.” Nagi greeted him with a smile. He was carrying a salver with two cups of coffee on it. “Your favourite seat is open, so _please_ make yourself comfortable.”

“Will do, thanks.”

“The usual?”

“Yup.”

“Certainly.” he bowed down and continued on his way. Torao walked to his usual seat and sat down at a one-person table. He had discovered Magical Kokoa one day on his way home from practise. It looked peculiar from the outside already and piqued his interest. He entered the café and was nearly overwhelmed by the amount of anime and manga and merchandise of both. He asked for a table for one and the owner – he didn’t know Nagi yet nor that he was the owner – showed him to a seat and served him quite nicely. But after Torao’s eyes caught one of his favourite hero comics in one of the café’s shelves, he quickly became a regular and started getting closer with Nagi and the two waiters working for him.

“Here’s your Special Blend Coffee with low-fat milk and a plate of the Izumi Bakery Original Amaretti. And the newest issue of the Weekly Jounen Shump.”

“Thanks, Touma.”

“Why exactly do I have to bring you the magazine now too? You know where you can find it, don’t you?” he put the salver he was holding under his arm and glared at Torao.

“The customer is always right. Right?” he was about to take a sip.

“I hope you burn your tongue.” Touma snickered.

“Who made the coffee?”

“Owner.” he said without thinking about it much. “Wait, crap.”

“Thanks.” Torao laughed and took a sip. “I know Nagi won’t make it too hot, he never does.” he winked at Touma who glared back once more and turned around to continue his waiter duties. Torao laughed again and started looking through the magazine.

Before he only used to read western comics about superheroes, but since he found Magical Kokoa and was somewhat forced into reading a manga by Nagi, he started enjoying some action packed manga as well. And in Nagi he found a friend to talk about one of his passions he had since he was young. His brother used to bring him a new action figure every time he came to visit; now Torao buys them himself.

The sun set and the last customers left the café. After everyone was gone Touma could finally close up. Everyone but Torao. He and Nagi were sitting on two armchairs, talking about various things.

“Why is it that whenever Tora comes we two have to take care of everything?” Touma asked.

“Here’s the mop.” Haruka held a mop in front of him.

“What? I was on mop duty yesterday already. It’s your turn!”

“No, it’s Owner’s turn.”

“Then shove that mop into _his_ face, not mine.”

“Alright, do you want to interrupt them?”

“…no.”

“Then mop.”

“You mop.”

“I’m on dish duty.”

“And I’m on table duty!?”

“You can mop while you do that.”

“Why!!”

“Come on I want to go home soon. I’m gonna video-call with A---“ Haruka stopped mid-sentence. “N-nothing.”

“You’re gonna video-call with whom?”

“N-no one. It’s not like I have plans for tonight or anything.” he blushed, turned around and disappeared into the kitchen.

“Why am I still working here…” Touma sighed and started mopping the floor.

“Anyways, it’s getting late, I should head home.” Torao said and stood up. “Thanks for the talk.”

“ _Oh,_ you’re always welcome.” Nagi answered. “Until next time.”

“See ya.” he patted Nagi on his shoulder and turned around. He passed by the mopping Touma but stopped in front of the door. “Touma.”

“Huh?” he turned to him and hectically tried to catch the 500 yen coin Torao had flipped at him.

“Sorry for earlier.” he grinned.

“Hmph.” Touma grinned back and put the tip into his pocket.

 

About half an hour later, Torao parked the car in the garage of the condo building where he owned an apartment. He got off the car, walked to the elevator and got to his floor. When he opened the door to his apartment, he noticed that the light in the living room had been turned on. _He_ was already there.

“You’re late.” a voice came from inside.

“Sorry, I kinda got caught up talking.” he hung his jacket on a hook, took of his shoes and stepped into his home. “I’m back.” he approached the couch and put his arms around the person sitting on it, a book in his hands.

“Welcome back.” Minami said, closed his book and looked up. At the same time, Torao moved his head down and kissed him. Their lips parted again and Torao chuckled.

“Always wanted to try it upside down.”

“I’m glad I could be of help then.”

“Did you have dinner already?”

“No, I was waiting for you, Midou-san.”

“Sorry again.”

“No problem, what do you want to---“ Minami was about to stand up when Torao put his arms on his shoulders and gently pushed him down onto the couch again.

“You must be tired from work, so stay put. I’ll cook tonight.”

“But you’ve been working today too.”

“Shut up and let me spoil my partner, will you?”

“If you insist…” he smiled and returned to the lecture of his book.

The two had been going out for a couple of years already and a few months ago Torao asked Minami if they wanted to live together. Torao knew that he wanted to spend his life next to Minami, and he was happy when he agreed to the idea of living together. But one thing the dancer didn’t like as much is that they had to keep their relationship secret from the public.

Natsume Minami. Top actor. Everyone knew him and therefore he had to strictly separate private and public life. And since Torao debuted with Downtown AT4 recently as well, he’d be sure to become more known sooner or later. He didn’t really care about other people’s opinions about him, but he didn’t want to drag Minami into any nasty gossip or rumours that could harm his career. And if the price for staying by Minami’s side was to only ‘be’ a couple when they were home, then he’d gladly pay it.

After they finished eating dinner and washed the dishes together, they sat down on the couch and cuddled while watching a movie on TV. But because it was both late and a horribly bad movie, they decided to head to bed after half an hour. They got bed ready one after the other – Minami always needed some more time so he was the last one – and they stepped into their bedroom.

While Minami put on his silk pajamas, Torao took off everything except for his underwear. When they first got together Minami had asked him if he could put on _something_ for sleeping, but Torao just couldn’t, he was an underwear sleeper.

They crawled into their bed and Torao turned off the lights with a remote control. He moved closer to Minami and hugged him from behind, his hand finding its way to Minami’s and grabbing it. Torao kissed him on the cheek, wished him a good night and the two slowly drifted into the land of dreams.

 

～♪♫♪～

 

“Cheers!!” the three said at the same time as their glasses chinked against each other. While others were falling asleep already, Mitsuki, Momo and Ryu were having a party to celebrate their success of the day. They had won the auditions and where one big step closer to their debut.

“Momorin really tastes even greater after a successful day of work!” Momo laughed and emptied his glass. “Another one please!” he stretched out his hand as a waitress passed by.

“Certainly!” she said and grabbed his empty glass.

“Seriously.” Mitsuki drank another bit from his beer and put down the glass. “Too bad Yuki couldn’t come though.”

“Yes, even though he could’ve done that tomorrow.” Ryu nodded.

“I was surprised seeing him that serious though. He’s really growing into the role of manager, isn’t he?”

“Yes, it seems like he really wants to do his best too.”

“Hey, my darling always does his best!” Momo pouted but shook it off with a laugh quickly. “But I guess it’s okay, he’s not much of a drinker himself neither so…”

“Yeah you’re probably right.”

“Here’s your juice, please enjoy!” the waitress came back and put a new glass on the table.

“Thank you!!” Momo smiled and grabbed the glass.

“Momo, you should eat something too.” Ryu insisted. “Do you want to try some of the takoyaki I ordered? They’re very delicious.”

“Really? Sure!” he opened his mouth. “Ahhhhn…”

“Eh?”

“Feed me!”

“O-okay?” Ryu was confused but complied anyway. “How is it?”

“Dewishous!”

“Don’t talk with your mouth stuffed!” Mitsuki said.

“Mitsuki, do you want a bite too? Ahhn?” Ryu took another ball with his chopsticks and moved it towards him.

“What? No! Stay away with that I can eat myself just fine!” he accidentally pushed his hand and the takoyaki ball fell down on the table.

“Ahh, my takoyaki!”

“Ahahaha!!” Momo started laughing.

“Sorry, Ryu.”

“Five seconds rule, quick, pick it up!” Momo added.

“Eh? What? Five seconds!?” Ryu was unable to cope with the overall situation, which just made Momo laugh even more than before. That was one way how the three (and sometimes four) liked to spend their evenings. Going out and drinking together as friends and having a good time.

They all had known each other over ten years, having met in high school for the first time. And they had stayed together almost the entire time. There was a period where Ryu had to move away for certain reasons, but after he came back they had decided to make their youthful dreams come true. They formed a dance group and started aiming for the top, starting from zero.

It had been their dream to dance on big stages ever since they created their high school’s dance club from zero as well because there was no dance club before. Their dream had been born back then as well.

“Phew, it sure is getting late though, right?” Mitsuki asked.

“You’re right!” Ryu gasped. “It’s almost midnight! Shouldn’t we head home? We have to meet with the agency’s president tomorrow and we probably should make a good first impression.”

“And arriving there with a hangover doesn’t sound like the best first impression, huh?”

“See if you’d just drink Momorin too you wouldn’t have that problem.”

“Whatever you say, Momo.” Mitsuki laughed.

“But still, you’re right. Let’s pay the bill and go home. I can drive you two with Ryu-chan’s car!”

“Thanks!”

“Thank you very much, Momo.”

“I’ll just pick you up with it tomorrow too and then give it back to you.” he winked.

“Okay!” Ryu smiled.

“You sure act like his car is all yours to use however you please.”

“Oh no worries, it’s okay, I don’t mind. And it’s the best option right now.”

“Excuse meee! Could we get the bill please?” Momo stretched out an arm and waved.

“Coming!” a waiter answered and walked towards them. They paid, stood up, put on their coats and headed outside and to Ryu’s car. Momo decided to drop of Ryu first since Mitsuki’s apartment was on the way to his own, so it’d be easier like that. After he dropped of Ryu he continued driving.

At some point he checked the rear-view mirror and noticed that Mitsuki had fallen asleep. He was resting his head against the window and breathing calmly, a smile on his face.

“Hehe, I wonder what he’s dreaming of…” Momo whispered to himself and focused on the street again.

But Mitsuki wasn’t really dreaming. If anything, he was remembering the moment after their casting dance ended and the three were catching their breaths. One of the staff observing their dance asked Mitsuki a question.

 

_“Why I dance?” I was asked and smiled in response. “That’s simple. I dance because when the song is ending and I’m slowly nearing the end as well, when I’m all sweaty and exhausted from the choreography, when the music stops and I can strike my pose, that short moment when I’ve taken away the breath of the people watching me and before they start clapping… that split second of silence is the reason why I dance.”_

 

～♫～


	2. Dance N°2 – He’s a decent person. Most of the time.

The alarm rang at seven o’clock in the morning, like it always did. And as usual as well, Sougo quickly turned it off before it could wake up Tamaki, who had his arms around him. But in all those years they had been together already, Sougo had come up with a fool proof method to escape Tamaki’s – definitely comforting and sense of security inducing – hug.

He’d quickly jump out of the clasp and just as quickly put a big plushie inside of Tamaki’s arms. It was his favourite version of the King Pudding he loved so much. Sougo would then always proceed to bow down, kiss him on the cheek and silently head out of their bedroom.

After taking care of his morning routine in the bathroom, he’d step into the kitchen and put on his apron to start preparing breakfast. Just when Sougo had finished making the pancakes and turned off the stove to go wake up Tamaki, he was already standing in the door frame to their living-dining-room with integrated kitchen.

“Tamaki! You woke up already?” he asked.

“Hm.” Tamaki only nodded in response. He was scratching the back of his head, making his bed hair even worse than it already did. Sougo chuckled at the sight and took off his apron.

“Come on, go wash your face so you wake up completely. You gotta head out early today, right?” he said and another nod followed. “Also I told you not to walk around the apartment half-naked all the time.”

“’Kay.” he yawned and did as he was told.

“Hah, when will he learn…” he sighed and carried the plates to the already set table. After that, he approached the radio that was situated on a cupboard and turned it on to listen to the morning news. Tamaki – now dressed – came back and sat down at the table after pecking his partner on the cheek.

“Mornin’ Sou-chan.”

“Good morning. Let’s eat then.”

“Aye.” he mumbled and the two started eating. Tamaki’s gaze wandered across the table in search of something sweet to put on his pancakes. Ever since he had tried to put King Pudding on his pancakes once, Sougo wouldn’t take them out of the fridge in the morning. And because Tamaki was too tired to stand up again after sitting down for breakfast, he’d make do with whatever was on the table.

Tamaki had never been a morning person, not even when he first met Sougo. Actually, if he hadn’t always been as bad at waking up in the morning he probably would’ve never got to meet him. He was still back in high school, in his last year, when he overslept one day and was late for school.

While running to school it had suddenly started raining and coming down in buckets. He sought shelter under a store front’s canopy. But due to the heavy rain, he wasn’t the only one with that idea. A young man carrying something came running and stopped under it as well and started catching for air next to Tamaki.

“Are you okay?” he asked casually.

“…hah… Ahaha, y-yes…” he took a deep breath. “It just started pouring down so suddenly when I was about to get this guy to the veterinary.”

“This guy?” Tamaki asked and was surprised when the man revealed a white furred kitten that he was carrying, wrapped around a blanket. “Why are you carrying your kitty around?”

“I’m not, I found it in a cardboard box on the side of the street. I couldn’t leave it on its own so I decided to bring it to a veterinary and then to an animal shelter. But then it started raining and I’m supposed to head to work and… ah, what should I do?”

“Should I bring it to the veterinary?” Tamaki asked without thinking about it too much.

“Eh!?”

“I can do it for you if you want, I don’t mind.”

“But…” the man looked at him. “You’re a student, aren’t you? Don’t you have to go to school too?”

“They’re used to me being late.” Tamaki shrugged.

“I---” he wanted to retort, but a weak meowing interrupted him. “…okay fine.” he gave Tamaki the cat. He had never hold one, but the cat didn’t seem to mind. _It’s so tiny._ Tamaki thought to himself. “If you can wait until the rain stops a bit, that would be great. Also here’s my business card. You should be able to leave the cat at the veterinary for the day, head to school then and go back. Call me then, I’ll take care of the payment.”

“’Kay.” Tamaki nodded and grabbed the card. “Good luck at work, bye-bye.”

“Thank you so much, I’ll see you later!” he bowed down quickly and started running away again in the falling rain.

“Should we wait a bit before going?” Tamaki looked down to the cat and it answered with a meow. “Alright.” he rearranged the blanket a bit and took a look at the card he received. “Osaka Sougo. Ainana Gakuen.” he read. “Isn’t that a music school?”

 

“Oh. Mornin’ Mii-chan.” Tamaki said when he felt something crawl around his legs. He was greeted with a purr when he moved his arm down to pet their white cat.

“Miyu! I tried to call you earlier, where were you?”

“Maybe she didn’t hear you?”

“Hah.” Sougo sighed. “I just think she likes you more than me.”

“Don’t worry, I love Sou-chan more than anyone else.”

“T-Tamaki!”

“What?”

“…nothing.” he took another deep breath, he still wasn’t used to Tamaki’s casual declarations of love. “Let’s eat?”

“’Kay.” he nodded, finally grabbed the maple syrup and poured it over his pancakes.

 

After they were done eating, Tamaki got ready to head out. He had a morning meeting with his group mates and their manager. He packed his bag, said goodbye to Sougo and Miyu and left. Since Sougo technically had a day off, he sat down on the couch with his laptop and opened it.

“Alright, let’s get this song done.” he told himself. At the same time, the bell around Miyu’s collar rang as she jumped onto the couch as well and made herself comfortable on his lap. “I wanted to put my laptop there and work.”

But she didn’t care.

“Fine, I’ll put it on the armrest.” he chuckled and scratched her fur. “You always come running to me as soon as Tamaki is gone, don’t think I didn’t figure it out, you hear me?” he said and Miyu purred. “Cats.”

 

～♪♫♪～

 

Another alarm rang at eight o’clock in the morning. Tenn woke up, sat up on his bed and stretched. He slowly stood up while a deep yawn escaped his mouth and once he was on his feet he stretched his arms upwards again. After putting on his slippers, he opened the door to the big, loft-like main room of the apartment and stepped out.

“Ah, good morning Tenn-nii!” Riku smiled, sitting on a red beanbag next to the wide panorama windows that spread across the entire wall. Since the apartment was on the topmost floor of the building, they had a breath-taking view over the city.

“Morning. You were awake already, Riku?” he approached the kitchen island and turned on the water kettle to boil some water for his daily morning tea. “You could’ve woken me up.”

“I wanted to let you rest! And I used the time to read a bit.” he held up the book he was holding.

“I see. Are you ready for heading out in a bit? Our manager should arrive in 30 minutes, right?”

“Yes! She sent us a message to say that she’d be waiting at the entrance building as usual.”

“Alright. I’ll go change.” he said and walked back to his room.

At the same time, Riku stood up from his seat and took off his glasses. He stretched as well, still looking out of the window and welcoming the new day.

Nanase Riku and Nanase Tenn were twins and working as an idol unit together. As Eventide they had quickly risen to be number one idols in all of Japan, having earned the nickname of _Absolute Kings_. And the loft apartment they were currently living in was provided by their agency.

Tenn returned after having changed, poured the hot water into his cup and drank the tea while discussing the day’s plans with his brother. When it was time to leave, they put on their shoes and Tenn headed outside. But before Riku followed him, he stepped to the wall next to his room, crouched down and turned on his little friend.

“Have a nice day, Terry-san!” he told his Roomba and got a beeping sound in response. He then rushed back to the entrance door and left together with Tenn. They took the elevator down to the ground floor, exited and left through the main entrance.

“Riku-san, Tenn-san! I wish you a good morning!” Tsumugi greeted them with a smile. She held out a paper bag to each of them and walked around the car to go inside. The twins got on as well and opened their bags. “I’ve bought a melon bread and a matcha bread.”

“Thank you very much, Manager!” Riku smiled widely.

“Thank you a lot.” Tenn smiled as well. They took a look inside and after a moment switched the bags out with each other simultaneously.

“Oh, did I give you the melon one, Tenn-san?”

“Yes, but it’s no problem.” he fastened the seatbelt. Riku did the same while already holding the melon bread in his mouth. “Let us get going.”

“Understood!” she nodded and started the car.

 

～♪♫♪～

 

“Okay Yuki.” Mitsuki started talking. The four friends were sitting in the waiting room in front of the office of Oogami Agency’s president. While Mitsuki, Momo and Ryu were wearing casual formal clothes, Yuki was the only one to wear a proper suit. _Proper first impressions are key. I’ve read that in a book._ he had told them earlier that morning.

“Yes?”

“Whatever you say, please… Jus---“

“You don’t need to worry. I have practised what I’ll say with Momo yesterday night.”

“Darling was very ikemen, I assure you he’ll do great!” Momo added.

“You always say that!” Mitsuki retorted.

“See! Must be true then!”

“Hah…”

“Fufu.” Yuki chuckled.

“I’m sure everything will be fine.” Ryu calmed them down and laughed, though it was unclear whether it was out of nervousness or something else.

 

“Welcome, everyone. So you are NebulaZ, correct?” the president asked. The dance group and their manager were sitting on two couches, in front of them a small table with a cup of coffee for everyone, the blue and long haired man sitting on an armchair. “Would anyone like some sugar?”

“I would, thank you!” Momo smiled.

“Very well.” he bowed forward, grabbed the sugar basin and added one cube to Momo’s coffee. He looked up to him to see if he wanted more, but instead of signalizing an ‘okay, that’s enough’ in any kind of manner, he kept staring at the pair of sugar tongs hovering above his small espresso cup.

The president added a second cube, but there was still no reaction. He quickly glanced around at the others: Yuki was smiling as he took a sip from his cup, Ryu seemed to be chuckling nervously and Mitsuki had just buried his face in his hands.

“…do you want a bigger cup and more coffee to go with your sugar?” he asked.

“Really? That’d be great!”

“Of course, no problem.” he put a hand to his ear. “Could you please bring us a bigger cup and some more coffee, thanks.” it was only then that they noticed an earphone like gadget in the president’s right ear.

Only moments later, a tall and broad man entered with a tray and put it down on the table. On it were a big cup and a can of coffee. He took the can and poured coffee into Momo’s new cup. After that he grabbed the sugar basin, looked at Momo, was shown a three with his hands and put in the same amount of cubes in the cup. He put the first, small cup and the can back on the tray, bowed down a bit and headed out of the office again.

“Thank you, Bob-san.” he cleared his throat. “Well then, pardon my late introduction.” he said and the others turned to him. “My name is Oogami Banri, president of Oogami Agency.”

“Thank you very much for letting us talk to you today, Oogami-san.” Yuki answered.

“It’s my pleasure, uhm…”

“My name is Yuki.” he took a short break. “Manager Yuki.” and handed Banri his business card.

“…oh my god…” Mitsuki whispered in disbelief.

“Thank you very much…” Banri looked at the card. “Orikasa-san.”

“Please, do call me Manager Yuki.”

“Yuki!” Mitsuki exclaimed and turned to Banri. “I’m so sorry, he’s a decent person…” a short break. “Most of the time.”

“Ahaha, no worries.” he started laughing. “It’s refreshing.”

“We’re trying out best!” Ryu added.

“In any case.” Banri leaned back on his armchair, crossed his legs and smiled. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?” he suddenly sounded more impressive than before and the four friends seemed to swallow simultaneously.

 

～♪♫♪～

 

“Did we get an answer already?” Tenn asked while he looked through the papers that were lying on the table in front of him.

“We did! And Downtown AT4 accepted!” Tsumugi seemed happy.

“Really? Yay!” Riku clapped his hands.

“Those are great news.” Tenn was glad as well, though he didn’t show it as clearly as the other two. “How’s the new song coming along?”

“The composer messaged me earlier and said that they could have it completed by the end of the week.” she read from her planner. “I was thinking of doing a first meeting with the dancers some time next week? The song would be definitely done by then and you could get to know them first and then start thinking of the show?”

“That’ll be the song we perform at this year’s Black or White, right?” Riku asked.

“That’s the plan, yes.”

“Downtown AT4 probably wanted to participate in it as well, but they only started getting popular once the sign-up period was over already, that’s probably one of the reasons why they decided to work with us.” Tenn noted.

“Ohh, Tenn-nii you might be right. Since this year’s Black or White marks the first event that is open to other kinds of artist and not only singers after all.”

“Exactly. So even if we’re working together this year, we’re surely be opponents next year.”

“But that’s so far away, let’s not think about that and have fun again this year, yes?”

“…you’re right.” he was weak against his brother. “Manager?”

“Yes?”

“Let’s meet them next week, just as you suggested. Is that okay, Riku?”

“Sure!” he nodded.

“Very well, I shall call their manager as soon as possible then and ask if they have time.” Tsumugi nodded as well and wrote it down in her planner. “Oh right!” she explained surprised.

“Hmm?” Tenn turned around to her.

“Your new costume designer contacted me as well.”

“Oh?”

“Yes! She let me know that she could make it next week.”

“Oh, is she finally coming back from overseas?” Riku asked curious.

“Hmm… could you make it so she also comes to the meeting we’re holding with AT4?” Tenn asked. “We’d save time that way and wouldn’t need to use another spot in our schedule.”

“I could certainly ask her.”

“If she’s only taking our measurements it shouldn’t take too long, right?” the red haired twin stood up from his chair and walked to the water dispenser in the corner of the room.

“That’s what I was thinking too, Riku.”

“I can’t wait to meet her!” he took a sip from the cold water. “I’ve heard she’s been staying in Noth Meir to study fashion design?”

“And she’s supposedly connected to important people in the business. That could come in handy as well.”

“Tenn-san always thinking two steps ahead as always.” Tsumugi chuckled.

“Well…” he sighed. “Someone has to be the one to do it if my little brother and our manager aren’t doing it.” he said and made the other two wince.

“…I let you do it because I know you’re better at it, Tenn-nii!”

“I-I’m sorry, Tenn-san…”

“I was joking.”

“…”

“Hmph.” Tenn turned around and pouted. Riku and Tsumugi wanted to say something, but seeing him pout like that made him look very cute, as they thought. So whenever it happened, they just decided to enjoy it for a moment.

“Alright!” Tsumugi said after a while. “I will let them know and ask and then I’ll message you two as well. Is that okay?”

“No problem.” Tenn nodded.

“Sure!” Riku added and they continued their meeting.

 

When they finally came to an end it was already time for lunch. Tsumugi excused herself as she had to head for another meeting without them. The brothers exited the office building and looked skywards at the same time.

“Tenn-nii, I made plans to meet with a friend after today’s meeting. Do you want to come too?”

“Where are you going?”

“Magical Kokoa! That’s an anime and mang---“

“No thanks.”

“Ehh!?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m somehow craving something specific to eat right now.”

“What?”

“…soba.”

“Soba!?”

“Soba.”

“Hmm, okay!” Riku threw himself around Tenn and hugged him. “Call when we’re done?”

“Sure.” he smiled. “Have fun.”

“You too Tenn-nii! And let me know about the soba store you go to, maybe we can go again someday!”

“Alright.”

“Bye-bye!”

“See you later, Riku.” and so they parted ways.

 

Tenn had decided to take the bus and to the city centre and then look for a soba restaurant with an app he often used. He got off the bus after a few minutes and grabbed his from to open said app.

“Ehh… there are way too many suggestions here…” he talked to himself as he stared on the screen. “Maybe I’ll just walk around until I see something and enter.” he closed his phone case but still held it in his hand in case he’d give up on finding a restaurant the old-fashioned way.

But he also felt it somehow fitting, considering that the city centre was also the old part of the city to some extent. One of the reasons why he liked going there was because he didn’t have to be worried about fans of theirs being there and finding him. And when eating, if nothing else, he wanted to be in a calm environment, alone or together with his brother.

The different stores and shops on both sides of the street caught his attention as he kept walking forward in search of a soba restaurant. He passed by various other specialized restaurants and shops, even some food stalls here and there, but he really wanted to eat some soba. And then, after about 15 minutes of wandering around, a smile appeared on his face as he stopped in front of a sign.

“Yamamura Soba Place.” Tenn read aloud. “Looks nice, I’ll eat here.” he said and stepped inside through the open door, the inside being separated from the outside only by a strip curtain.

“Welcome! How many!?” a voice called out to him as he entered.

“Hello. Only for me, thank---“ he stopped mid-sentence as he discovered the person talking to him.

“Nanase Tenn?”

 

～♪♫♪～

 

“ _OH_ , _Mister_ Riku!” Nagi smiled as Riku entered Magical Kokoa.

“Hello!” he smiled back.

“Oh, hey Riku.” Touma passed by with a salver and some pieces of cake on it. “You can sit down already, my lunch break will start in a few minutes so---“

“Allow me.” Nagi said and took the salver away from him. “Take your break now already.”

“A-are you sure?”

“ _YES!_ ”

“Alright, thanks!” he smiled and took off his waist apron.

“Thank you for inviting me, Touma-san!”

“No problem Riku, it’s been a while since we could meet and talk.”

“Yes, I’m sorry that I’ve been so busy lately.”

“You don’t need to apologize, it’s your job after all.” he said and they sat down at a table. Only moments later, Haruka came to take their orders.

“Welcome to Magical Kokoa, can I take your order?” he said monotonously.

“Haru, is that how you talk to customers?” Touma turned to him.

“You’re no customer.”

“Excuse me!?”

“Order?”

“Yes, thanks!” Riku raised his arm. “I’d like to have a strawberry shortcake milkshake and your sandwich of the day please!”

“’Kay.” Haruka wrote it down on his small notebook. “You?”

“Uhm…” Touma thought about it for a while.

“Will you order today or tomorrow?”

“Geez, fine!” he glared at him. “I’ll have a sandwich too and an iced coffee.”

“’Kay.” he said and turned around to walk away.

“I sure hope Haru isn’t like that when talking to other customers.”

“Hehe.” Riku chuckled.

“Anyway…” he made himself more comfortable on the chair. “How’re you doing?”

“Good!” he got closer to Touma and whispered. “We’ll be meeting the dance group Downtown AT4 next week and do a collaboration.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, do you know them?”

“I’ve… heard of them, yeah.” he averted Riku’s gaze for a moment, not telling him that he was actually good friends with Torao.

“I’m really looking forward to it! Tenn-nii is too, but he doesn’t show it.”

“Your brother’s level of professionalism is quite high as you’ve told me after all.”

“It is, I really admire him!”

“I sure would like to meet him once.”

“I tried to invite him today, but he was craving soba.”

“Soba!?”

“Yes.” Riku started laughing. The two continued talking about they had been doing the past few days and before they knew it, Haruka came back with their orders.

“Here’s your shake, coffee and two sandwiches. Enjoy or something.”

“Haru!”

“Thank you very much!” Riku just smiled in response. “Let’s eat, Touma-san!”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s eat.”

 

“ _OH…_ ” Nagi sighed loudly in the distance. Touma turned around, but because he couldn’t see him he continued eating. They were almost done with their meal when he heard him again. “ _OH…_ ” he turned around one more time and saw Nagi approaching their table slowly. The café was almost empty at the moment so he grabbed a chair from another table, put it next to Touma and Riku and sat down. “ _OH_ …”

“…is everything oka---“

“Thank you for asking, Touma.” Nagi interrupted him before he could even finish his question. “You see, I have a _problem_.”

“A problem?”

“I have been troubled by it for a while already…” he leaned back on the chair and put the back of his hand to his forehead with a melodramatic flourish. Riku gasped, but Touma had been used to it already.

“Did something happen to you, Nagi-san!?” Riku asked curiously.

“ _Yes_ , indeed, _Mister_ Riku.”

“What is it this time, Owner?” Touma sighed.

“I have…” Nagi did a dramatic pause. “… _love troubles._ ”

“Ohh!” Riku exclaimed excited.

“Really?” Touma asked.

“Yes. I think I have fallen for one of my roommates, yet I don’t know what I should do about it. Should I ask him out on a _date_?”

“Hmm…” Riku started thinking about it.

“Maybe you should think about it more firs---“ Touma wanted to say but was once again interrupted.

“I think you should do it, Nagi-san!”

“Riku!?”

“I mean… does he like you?” he asked.

“ _Of course_ , I am beautiful.” Nagi smiled.

“That’s not what I was going for, though I agree, but see! I don’t think you’ll have any problems if you’re this confident. And even if nothing changes yet, your roommate will be aware of your feelings then and maybe it might change for that person at some point too!”

“Hmm…”

“You’ll never know if you don’t try!”

“You’re right.” Nagi stood up. “Thank you, _Mister_ Riku.”

“That was fast.” Touma whispered to himself as he took a sip from his drink.

“You’re very welcome!” Riku smiled.

“Haruka! Bring _Mister_ Riku some madeleines. It’s on the house.” he yelled through the café.

“Really? Thank you very much!” Riku looked happy. Touma shivered after hearing what Nagi had said.

“Touma-san?”

“N-nothing, it just sent cold shivers down my spine when I heard the word madeleines for some reason…”

“Ehh? Why is that? Did something bad with madeleines happen once?”

“I have no idea, Riku.” he said. “I have no idea…”

“Here.” Haruka appeared with a small basket full of madeleines. “Touma, your break’s over in ten more minutes.”

“I know, Haru.”

“Good, I wanna go on break already too.”

“Hah…”

“Don’t mind, Touma-san!” Riku said and bit into a madeleine.

 

～♪♫♪～

 

“It was really nice of him to give us a basket with madeleines as a present, right?” Yuki said, holding the basket while they exited the agency building.

“Yes! And their coffee was really good too!” Momo laughed.

“…I can’t believe how you two acted there!!” Mitsuki finally exploded after holding it in for that long. “Do you have any idea how you made us look like!?”

“But Ban-san was so nice!” Momo retorted.

“Don’t go calling him by nicknames already! He’s the president of the agency we just signed contracts with!!”

“Mitsuki-kun, I think everything went alright in the end.” Ryu tried to calm him down a bit, though he did understand him. “I’m just glad Oogami-san seems to be such a friendly person.”

“I agree! Though he seemed a bit scary at times. I feel like he’s the kind of person you don’t want to make angry.” Momo added.

“Hah…” Mitsuki signed. “In any case. Guys!” the other three looked at him. “We’ve signed a contract with an agency! We’ll be able to debut soon! We’re actually going to become an official dance group!”

“Fufu, Mitsuki, you only _just_ realized?” Yuki chuckled.

“NO!” he yelled back.

“You’re right. I still can’t fully believe it. We’re one step closer already.” Ryu smiled.

“I wonder when we can debut!” Momo jumped in excitement. “We should celebrate tonight!”

“A-again!?”

“If you’d drink Momorin you could celebrate every night without worrying.”

“I don’t think drinking that much sugared drinks is any better to be honest.” Mitsuki raised an eyebrow.

“But it tastes so good, Mitsuki-chan!”

“How about I invite you for dinner tonight?” Ryu suggested. The other three stopped and turned around to him with sparkling eyes; they loved Ryu’s home-cooked meals. “I’ll take that as a yes.” he laughed.

“Ryu-chan, is Kou-chan there too!?”

“Kounosuke? No, he’s currently visiting our parents and other two brothers in Okinawa.”

“Ohh, that’s nice!” Mitsuki said.

“Reminds me, if you want, you can stay the night. With him gone at the moment, there’s an extra bed for Momo-kun and Yuki-kun.” Ryu turned to Mitsuki. “And I sleep on the couch, so you can take my bed.”

“Uhm, no. You stay in your bed, I’ll sleep on the couch, that makes more sense.”

“He’s right, Ryu. Mitsuki is a lot smaller than you.” Yuki explained.

“ _Shut up!_ ”

“Alright, alright.” Ryu started laughing. “Then I’ll go buy something for dinner and we can meet at my apartment later, does that sound okay?”

“Sure!” the others said at the same time and the friends parted ways.

 

“I’m back.” Mitsuki said as he opened the door to his apartment.

“Ohh, welcome back.” he heard Yamato’s voice coming from the kitchen. “How did it go?”

“Oh, Yamato.” he took off his jacket and shoes and stepped inside. “Everything’s okay, we signed the contracts already.”

“Nice.” he took a sip from his drink.

“Anyway, what do you want for dinner?”

“It’s not even lunch time yet and you’re already asking for dinner?”

“Ryu invited us for dinner tonight and we’ll stay the night, so I won’t be eating with you two tonight.”

“I see. Well then, whatever you feel like.”

“Great help as always, thanks.”

“Doing my best.”

“Wait.” he put on his apron. “I thought you were supposed to be working today all day?”

“Me too, but my assistant needed tomorrow off so we switched.”

“You can just do that?”

“Pff, Mitsu. I’m the boss of the paediatrician section of the hospital, I can do what I want.”

“A doctor shouldn’t be saying stuff like that.”

“But it’s true.”

“I still can’t believe someone like you is a doctor.”

“Yeah I get that often.” he laughed and sat down on the couch.

“I’ll just call Nagi and ask what he wants to have for dinner.” he grabbed his phone and dialled Nagi’s number.

“ _OH,_ Mitsuki!” came from the other side of the phone.

“Hey Nagi, sorry for calling you while you’re working.”

“ _No problem_ , I love hearing your voice!”

“Th-thanks…” he cleared his throat and was happy that Nagi couldn’t see his face right now. “Ryu invited Momo, Yuki and me for dinner tonight and we’ll stay over, so I wanted to ask what you want for dinner since the old man is no help whatsoever.”

“I can hear you.” Yamato exclaimed.

“That was my intention.”

“Okay fair.”

“So?” Mitsuki asked.

“ _OH_ , I understand. I am a bit saddened that I cannot eat together with you, but if you’re asking so kindly, I would like to eat omurice tonight.”

“Really? That’s all?”

“ _Yes_.”

“Alright then. Thanks, and sorry for calling again.”

“Don’t worry, Mitsuki.”

“Alright, bye then, see you tomorrow---“

“Wait _please!_ ” Nagi suddenly exclaimed.

“Y-yes?”

“I wanted to ask you tonight, but since I cannot do that anymore, I shall do it now since I cannot wait any longer.”

“…wh-what?”

“Mitsuki.” he stopped for a second. “Do you want to go out with me next week?”

“…”

“…Mitsuki?”

“Ehhhhh!?!”

 

～♫～

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long wait, but here's the new chapter!
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, please leave a comment if you enjoyed it, I'd love to read what you think about it!


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